CLARIFICATION: The position from which Judy Beussink will retire, chief deputy and payroll clerk at the county clerk's office, is being restructured into a human resources and payroll administrator position. Cape Girardeau County Clerk Kara Clark Summers said she won't know what will happen with the chief deputy part of the position until the county has more information on the cost of outsourcing payroll. The position will also depend on the applicants.

Cape Girardeau County Clerk Kara Clark Summers is looking at restructuring her department and making changes to the county's payroll process.

Clark Summers gave the county commission a letter at Monday's meeting concerning the retirement of Judy Beussink, the clerk's office chief deputy and payroll clerk, who has been a county employee for 46 years. Beussink will retire in December.

Clark Summers is proposing to eliminate the chief deputy and payroll clerk position and create a new position for a human resources and payroll administrator.

"I feel like this is an opportunity to restructure things and be more efficient," she said of the proposed change. She said she wants to make the position focused on human resources so county employees could have better service when it comes to benefits and insurance.

Summers also asked commissioners to approve a motion to outsource the county's payroll process, saying the way the process is done now is too time consuming. She has been evaluating the system the county uses for the past three months.

County employees currently track their time on a paper voucher and submit it to a supervisor for review. The supervisor then submits the vouchers to the payroll department, where an employees enters the information into a computer.

Commissioners approved the motion for Summers to seek bids for outsourcing payroll.

Pertinent address:

1 Barton Square, Jackson, MO